TONOPAH -- When it comes to a proposed $2 million Nye County Sheriff's Department microwave communications system, Sheriff Tony DeMeo and County Commissioner Candice Trummell certainly weren't on the same frequency Tuesday.

The purchase of a microwave system from Harris Corp. to connect Pahrump to Beatty, Tonopah and Warm Springs, would cost $2.04 million. Nye County could fund $1.5 million with an emergency management grant; the county could pay the remaining $555,000 over the next three years from the Payment Equal to Taxes it receives for the land value of Yucca Mountain.

DeMeo said all of the sheriff's office telephone and Internet communications could be broadcast on the new network instead of just using telephone lines. It would allow patrol vehicles in Pahrump to communicate with other sheriff's office personnel in Tonopah or Smoky Valley, or any other areas within the third largest county geographically in the nation. Other county departments could also piggyback onto the system, the sheriff said.

The system would also provide a backup in case existing phone lines went out, DeMeo said. The sheriff said that has happened a few times since he took office, including one incident when even the 911 service was down in Tonopah. The new system would include 26 T-1 lines for Internet capability, he said.

"We don't have any redundancy in the system. If Tonopah is down, Tonopah is down," DeMeo said. "The communication system now isn't even in the 1940s."

"No one had the foresight to look into communication needs for Nye County," the sheriff said. "This system is so good other entities in the state are looking at it."

But Commissioner Candice Trummell said Nye County isn't ready to go with a group of 74 frequencies it acquired from the Federal Communications Commission, after paying an FCC consultant $60,000 one and a half years ago.

"We don't know if we'll have frequencies that will work," she said.

DeMeo said his office has been talking regularly with Motorola Company about the system. But Trummell only wanted a straight answer.

"Is it up and running?" she asked the sheriff.

"No," DeMeo replied.

"That's all I said," Trummell said. "It's not up and running, which is what we were told was going to occur at this point in time."

Trummell became agitated enough that County Commission Chairman Gary Hollis had to rap the gavel to bring the discussion back to order.

Sheriff's Lt. Jack Henigan, who is working on the project for DeMeo's office, said the contract for the frequencies wasn't approved until last August. A lot of things are out of the control of the sheriff's department, like the approval of the frequencies and the approval of repeater sites, he said.

"The county spent $2.5 million for two towers that are doing nothing but blinking lights and transmitting for other agencies," DeMeo said.

Commissioner Patricia Cox wanted the item brought back for consideration. She asked for more assurances from Harris Corp. about time lines for delivering the system and late penalties.

With the system, the county would use existing microwave dishes and repeater towers on Sawtooth Mountain, Gold Point and Brock Mountain but would construct another repeater tower on Robs Peak for better service to Amargosa Valley.

Commissioner Joni Eastley asked about delaying approval until Interim County Manager Ron Williams presents a report on funding requests for the Yucca Mountain money, which is expected next week. Williams said the county would have funds to finance its share of the project.

DeMeo said the Nevada Highway Patrol spent a lot of money on a new VHF radio system, then simply abandoned it. Trummell said she was glad DeMeo brought that up, adding, "I'm afraid this system may go the same way where we have frequencies that may not work."

DeMeo denied Trummell's claim the county was buying a proprietary system.

"It's proprietary technology," Trummell said. "You can buy your radios and everything from somebody other than Motorola?"

When there was a power failure in Las Vegas, the sheriff said dispatchers had to relay a message to Beatty using a solar-powered antenna and Beatty dispatchers relayed it to Tonopah.

"We're dealing with public safety issues," he said. "I had 10 technicians rushing into a room to find out why Tonopah was down. If we miss a 911 call, whose life is on the line?"

But Trummell said to invest money when the county doesn't have the frequencies up and running is a waste of money. She said there was trouble with a pair of frequencies "bleeding" into other frequencies. DeMeo said the problem was that transmitting towers on Mt. Potosi were so high they created interference.

Nye County formed a partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to use their frequencies, DeMeo said. He added the system would also allow Nye County to tap into SNAC, the Southern Nevada Area Communications system. DeMeo said he would be able to communicate by radio directly with Las Vegas Metro.

After the commission meeting, DeMeo claimed Trummell was being influenced by a competitor seeking the contract.

"I don't know what her motives are. I find it questionable because there is another company that has been trying to interject themselves in this," he said.